Home automation today is expensive and complex, and tends to be composed of proprietary solutions that have to be installed by experts. Very quickly, however, that model is being replaced by something else entirely.
A wide range...

Doesn’t it sometimes seem that all of this technology that’s supposed to be helping us only makes things more complicated? Between the abundance of social media channels and gadgets, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Thankfully, there are ways...

A century ago universal access to electrical power began to transform just about every manual kitchen chore as electric versions of them were created. Hand mixers became blenders. Wood-fired ovens were replaced by electric ones. Toasters and waffle irons...

The idea of having sensors in your home to monitor environmental conditions sounds futuristic. But really sensors have been around for ages. Thermostats, thermometers and smoke detectors have been providing useful air sensing for a long time. What’s...

Home theater technology has never been better — today you can even exceed the audiovisual quality of your local cinema. Whether you want to host the perfect film night, entertain after a dinner party or simply keep the kids quiet for a few hours on...

This North London canal-side apartment — part of a former gin distillery — dates back to 1894, but a bland redevelopment in the 1990s had created a rabbit warren of rooms. “It was very tired and dated when the owner bought it,” recalls designer...

Companies that make appliances and electronics for the home will be doing two main things at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 6 to 9: exhibiting their smart-home tech products and explaining to people just what a smart-home...

“Everything tends to wind up on the kitchen counters,” says interior designer Harmony Weihs. While working on a breakfast nook in Jeff and Amy Miller’s Mercer Island, Washington, kitchen, she couldn’t help but notice all of the phones, tablets...

Most musicians will admit to sharing a single core skill necessary for mastering their instrument: control. When it comes to designing spaces for practicing, performing, recording or just jamming, control is equally important to acousticians and architects....

Last week Google revealed it has a secret drone delivery service in the works. Called Project Wing, it is the tech behemoth’s answer to another tech behemoth’s futuristic delivery service. Amazon’s Prime Air hopes to deliver 5-pound parcels,...

Technology is only one aspect of media room design. The right furnishings also are key to creating a space in which family members will want to gather to enjoy TV, music, video games and digital media together.
A media room can be the hub of...

Most people designate a place in their home for charging electronic devices like phones and tablets. And most people deal with the disaster zone of knotted-up cables that ensues. In my home it’s a fire hazard and a far cry from being child safe.
So...

Solar-powered homes were a rarity as recently as a decade ago. But a plethora of federal and local tax incentives along with increasing worries about climate change have made them commonplace.
Installing solar panels can decrease your household’s...

“Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have. … Shall we always study to obtain more, and not...